tim010

I'm going to be taking a family member down to flagpole in a month or so and am going to arrange it to stay overnight in a Montana town/city for a night or so.

I will probably be entering the states at Carway or Coutts. Does anyone have any recomendations for a town/city to stay at that isn't too far from the border? From looking at Google Maps it appears Great Falls is the closest larger city but that's about 250km from the border so somewhere closer would be preferable.

Thanks in advance.

Tim

Former Lancastrian

Why flagpole?
I notice your location is Edmonton. Is the family member in Canada and flagpoling for PR status or something else. If for PR status no need to flagpole.
Read the Wiki link on flagpoling.

tim010

It's for an IEC visa so I didn't think it was possible to do in Edmonton.

mandymoochops

oooh didn't realise you could do it in Edmonton - off now to check to see how long the waiting time is

(May not use this option / nor disclose it to the hubby - there is a cross boarder shopping trip at stake

Former Lancastrian

If for IEC then correct you can not do it in Edmonton you will need to flagpole.

Former Lancastrian

On your cross BORDER shopping trip invest in a dictionary

mandymoochops

You know what I knew there was something wrong with that word - you look at it for ages but draw a blank as to what the other option could be.

Is it a sign of dementia when you totally lose the ability to spell (which is a serious question - I used to be excellent at spelling, now even the simplest words make me draw a blank )

tim010

So any advice on good places to stay overnight in Montana near to the Canadian border?

I don't really want to do the whole refuse entry thing with the US in case of problems in the future so want to stay overnight somewhere in the US

Tim

Piff Poff

Give Great Falls a miss, go the Carway route and stay in Whitefish or Kalispell, make it a long weekend.

Mad Jockette

I am looking forward to my cross border shopping trip.
I am sure it will be a long wait for the Edmonton option- won't it?

snowcandy

Is Great Falls worth a trip? It's probably our closest US town too. Were thinking of stopping over there when we flagpole too, hopefully early summer

Have googled but some first hand info on the place would be handy!

Just looked at Whitefish Piff Poff and it looks idyllic...but I feel a need to shop and I mean really shop!

Piff Poff

Then you want Kalispell or go further to Bozeman - there is NOTHING much in Great Falls IMO. Kalispell doesn't have any Posh shops if you know what I mean.

mandymoochops

Kalispell was (is) our first choice - Whitefish is beautiful (apparently) lots of friends go down there skiing so my opinion of that is that its probably more for a romantic weekend away type place (unless you ski!), I imagine it would be a bit Banff like.

A lot depends on what shopping you want to do

Almost Canadian

There isn't masses of great shopping available in Great Falls, Whitefish or Kalispell. IMO Great Falls is a hole, but does have more shopping than the others, but not so much that it is worth going to. Kalispell and Whitefish are within spitting distance of each other. I would stay in Whitefish (very limited shopping) and shop in Kalispell.

If you are travelling in the summer, a trip to Whitefish via the Going to the Sun highway is fantastic.

Piff Poff

Exactly what I would do too. Next time down we might stay somewhere on Flathead lake for a change or go further down to find some shops, but I find malls much of a muchness where ever you go and prefer to shop in the little independent places when I can.

Whitefish IMO is nicer than Banff with less tourist tat although there is some and less people.